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Atul Gawande: Health Care Is A Wicked Problem

The Supreme Court has allowed most aspects of Obama’s health care bill to pass. So, now we all get free broccoli, right?

Hopefully, we’ll eventually see the bill’s effects in our own lives–though that may require Obama to have a second term.

In the meantime, check out Atul Gawande’s insightful article on The New Yorker’s website, explaining why health care is a “wicked problem,” meaning a messy, complex issue with interlocking dependencies that defies a simple solution (I’ve written about wicked problems for Dowser).

Gawande writes: “The reality of trying to solve a wicked problem is that action of any kind presents risks and uncertainties. Yet so does inaction. All that leaders can do is weigh the possibilities as best they can and find a way forward.”

Also, take a look at Lifehacker’s useful guide to how the Affordable Care Act will affect you.